Water Tower Place Cinemas

284 E. Garrison Boulevard,
Gastonia, NC 28054

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50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on January 24, 2026 at 4:58 pm

On August 28, 1991, the Water Tower Place Cinemas became statewide headlines after its manager shot an employee inside the theater. Its manager, 36-year-old Randy Lee Cross of Gastonia, was very angry and disappointed because the employee discharged a gun inside the theater on another occasion.

The theater wasn’t open at the time, but Cross pointed a .22-caliber semi-automatic pistol at the employee as the employee stood against the cement block wall. He shot the employee twice, one on each side, as well as a glass door of the office. Cross was arrested right afterward. According to authorities, Cross was also previous charged with an assault charge for spanking a 2-year-old child who lived with him.

raysson
raysson on May 6, 2014 at 10:49 am

THE WATER TOWER PLACE CINEMAS opened to the public on April 20,1987 under Charlotte based Multi-Cinemas as Gastonia’s only second-run discount house. It was a four-screen theatre,and later on expanded to ten screens before closing in 2003.

I have the ads at

raysson
raysson on May 2, 2014 at 1:35 pm

I have found the original ad for the opening of this theatre and it did not open in 1985. I will revise this and posted onto the Cinema Treasures site.

At the time of its opening,it replaced the Village Twin Theatres which at the time Carmike turned it into a second-run discount house.

Scott Neff
Scott Neff on October 30, 2013 at 5:24 pm

http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/5545.html

It’s a Paul Mitchell School for Hair.